Star Wars with occasional sarcasm

Tag Archives: toys

“Hasbro feels they have released plenty of female characters in the line.” That’s the money quote, from a Toy Fair Q&A with collector site Jedi Temple Archives. Granted, it doesn’t seem to be an exact quote, but the sentiment is pretty clear in any case. UPDATE: The answer has since been revised, at Hasbro’s request, to namedrop figures released over the past several years – that Mara Jade figure came out in 2013 – but the problem still remains. The Mary Sue has a great response to this:

It’s not that there aren’t any female characters in their line, because of course that would be untrue—it’s that they clearly take a backseat to the male ones which Hasbro thinks will sell better to boys.

Hasbro also said have no more Leia figures planned at the moment. (Though I doubt that includes The Force Awakens, which they are very much not talking about yet. But then again, who knows?) Asajj Ventress is also in the “no current plans” category.

Does our only hope for more than a paltry handful of women figures rest solely in the hands of the new film? We know there are multiple women in the cast, but such is the case with Rebels, and that rollout certainly hasn’t been without issues. (Though the recent issues finding figures – all figures – is likely due to an ongoing labor dispute at west coast seaports.)

Last night brought Rebelscum with a listing of The Force Awakens toys that are currently being solicited. Hasbro has covered their tracks pretty well as far as Episode VII information – most everything is ‘hero’ and ‘villain’ and such – but Making Star Wars has some analysis. There is a remote control droid that I fervently hope is BB-8, because who doesn’t want that?

In any case, don’t expect to see these toys legitimately at the upcoming Toy Fair in New York – Hasbro sent out a press release that they won’t be showing any of their The Force Awakens stuff. Pity, because certainly they have something that only ‘reveals’ the same things we saw in the trailer? Like, say, a remote controlled BB-8? An X-wing? Rey and her speeder? Perhaps they’re saving those sort of reveals for Celebration or SDCC?

StarWars.com’s Collectibles panel liveblog. Dan Brooks strikes again with this recap of what’s coming from eFX, Gentle Giant Studios, Kotobukiya, and Sideshow. Kotobukiya has a Luke and Leia ARTFX+ set coming up, plus their next Bishoujo will be a female stormtrooper. Gentle Giant has an Amidala mini-bust and a Leia as Bouschh jumbo retro figure in the pipeline.

The Hasbro panel at SDCC seems to have been, well, a Hasbro panel. Dan Brooks liveblogged it for StarWars.com, and above you see the female figures: The Black Series Medal Ceremony Leia will be in the 3.75-inch line, and for Rebels, Hera and Sabine each come in two-packs with troopers.

Last night’s SDCC preview and Hitfix/Rebels party seems to have been big hits – at right, our first look at the Sabine and Hera figures from none other than Dave Filoni himself. Yakface and Jedi Temple Archives have Hasbro booth pics for you toy die-hards.

Hitfix themselves and The Daily Dot have writeups of the party and TFN collected preview night and party tweets. And for those who want to look beyond Star Wars, /Film has nice roundup of some other things on the floor.

Since we’ve had every other sort of announcement lately, I suppose some toy news was inevitable. USA Today got the scoop on Hasbro’s new Black Series, so named because the color somehow inspired their designers. (It reminds me of Jim Beam bourbon, but to each his own.) The big change here is that the line will contain a few 6-inch figures, in addition to the traditional 3¾-inchers. Never before has six inches been considered such an enormous upgrade.

Hasbro hopes the new line will appeal to both new buyers and adult collectors, which makes sense since the larger figs are priced significantly higher than the regular ones. They’re supposedly quite detailed and articulated, but I remember reading that the original Clone Wars line (based on the Tartakovsky series) didn’t sell because they weren’t the same size as the normal figures. Have times changed? Or are the clearance racks about to get a whole lot more crowded?

“Their phenomenal popularity with movie fans revolutionized the toy industry,” the Hall of Fame states. “For more than three decades, kids have used Star Wars action figures—plus accessories, vehicles, and play sets—to tell stories of heroes and villains, of empire and rebellion, and of good triumphing over evil. Adults, too, play when they collect Star Wars action figures.”

Dominos were the other inductees this year; they join past honorees as varied as Barbie, marbles, and the cardboard box.

Anti-trust lawyers must be wringing their hands with glee at this one: MTV Geek is saying that after acquiring Lucasfilm (pending approval) Disney will be turning to Hasbro. Or rather, that they’re having “discussions.”

Buying Hasbro would give Disney the rights to Transformers, G.I. Joe, Dungeons and Dragons, and My Little Pony, among others. And by folding in the toys, they’d be getting a bigger share of the Star Wars pie as well.